Posts Tagged With: doctor who

Keep your feet warm this winter with a pair of TARDIS slippers. Each is blue with the front of the TARDIS on each slipper. They’re available in both men’s and women’s sizes so all the Whovians will be happy.

The reveal of the next actor to steer the TARDIS always brings about speculation about what kind of Doctor they’ll make. Will he be kind? Sympathetic? Cranky? Boisterous? There’s a lot of ways Peter Capaldi could play the Twelfth Doctor, but the main thing showrunner Steven Moffat is looking to achieve is something different.

In the latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine (via Doctor Who TV), Moffat shares a few hints at what we can expect of Capaldi’s Doctor,

Moffat is pretty certain Capaldi will keep his native Scottish accent for the roleAt the moment, they’ve only discussed Twelve’s costume in the lightest termsMoffat wanted to flip the switch the other way after having two youthful and accessible Doctors in a rowHe’s going to be an older, trickier and fiercer Doctor“Just as Clara’s learning to have a proper old crush on him, suddenly he’s Malcolm Tucker!”Moffat thinks it’ll be fun seeing Clara cope with the Doctor being completely different……”I think the fun story will be – and we have the opportunity here – is this is what regeneration can do to you. He can be very, very different.”“People really love Jenna, so we make the Doctor quite difficult…”…Moffat likens the situation to Tom Baker’s first season: “He’s really quite difficult to take at the beginning, and you’re very grateful that Sarah and the Brigadier are there to reassure you.”

Other than Moffat implying Clara couldn’t possibly develop a crush on The Doctor now he’s changed and become older, I’m excited about what’s discussed here. Besides the amazingly good chemistry between David Tennant and Billie Piper, what made the transition between Doctors Nine and Ten so engrossing was seeing it through Rose’s eyes. We didn’t get that when Ten became Eleven, and that’s all right because his first contact being Amy helped develop that very special relationship.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing Clara’s reaction to The Doctor’s regeneration. Particularly because she should be no stranger to regenerations having followed The Doctor though his entire time stream and because they’ve already done a great job showing Clara’s a companion who reacts quite differently. “It’s smaller on the outside,” for instance.

I’m also getting the impression some might consider Capaldi’s Doctor mean or too stern, judging by those comments his Doctor will be “fiercer” and that they’ll make “the Doctor quite difficult.” Guess we’ll have to see how that all pans out in Season 8. And how would you like to see the Twelfth Doctor dressed? It seems they’ve barely scratched the surface on his wardrobe, but surely, you have thoughts, yes?

And while we await an official look at Capaldi as The Doctor we can get a jist of what to expect from these leaked images of the Twelfth Doctor’s action figure,

Shared by BifBangPow (via Blastr), it ain’t much I’ll admit. Basically all we can make out it yes, that sure is Peter Capaldi, and oh, look how he’ll be styling his hair. And even that may change before he officially takes over for Matt Smith.

Are you all looking forward to Capaldi’s Doctor? Do you like the direction Moffat is hinting at?

Steven Moffat and Frank Skinner recently sat down at an Ad Lib‘s live chat at the Edinburgh Fringe last night (Wednesday) and Skinner asked a question that many Doctor Who fans have been wondering about. How many times can the Doctor regenerate?

Moffat’s answer is certainly interesting, does this mean that Peter Capaldi‘s Twelfth Doctor is the last Doctor? How would the show move forward after Capaldi’s run? Would it reboot in its entirety? I’m thinking that there are plenty of ways for Moffat, or the person who takes over Doctor Who‘s reins next, can skirt around the problem.

Perhaps when River gave the Doctor her regenerations it was all of them.

Remember when is was said that a Time Lord’s regeneration limit was 507? It happened when Russell Davis was in charge and said that the twelve limit was one imposed on a Time Lord by other Time Lords. Now that the Doctor is the last, who could impose the twelve limit on him? No one, so regenerate away Doctor.

There’s always the old “Doctor Who Alien that changes everything we knew about whatever the problem that needed solving” out that the show has used from time to time.

If this is a strict limit on the Doctor’s regeneration, where does that leave John Hurt’s Doctor? That one will take a bit of fast talking to fix. Moffat would like nothing better than to come up with something clever that sets the world of Doctor Who Fandom on its ear.

Like this:

Doctor Who is full of symbols and inside jokes. There’s everything from the obvious such as a sonic screwdriver to the subtle like a banana. This Whovian t-shirt features many of the more recognizable icons from the series and condenses them into one design. The crazy part is that it doesn’t look like a mess! How many of the symbols can you identify?

Like this:

Now that the Twelfth Doctor has been revealed, it’s time to get him on a t-shirt. This one features all The Doctors in order around the face of a clock along with some Gallifreyan symbols. It’s all Doctor Who, all the time.

A live broadcast hosted by Zoe Ball this Sunday will reveal the actor who will portray the twelfth incarnation of the Gallifreyan Time Lord known across space and time as simply, The Doctor. Showrunner Steven Moffat and 11th Doctor Matt Smith will be joining Ball on the special-along with whomever’s going to be playing the new Doctor.

The announcement is scheduled to air at 7pm, Sunday August 4th in the UK… and 11am PDT and 2pm EDT in the States.

The remarkably secretive casting process was done under the code name of Whodini, and apparently even the crew and other staff working with the soon-to-be 12th Doctor didn’t know what was going on.

Currently, an episode of Celebrity Mastermind is scheduled for that particular time slot on BBC One-most likely this will be preempted.

Furthermore, MSN UK just released this tweet regarding the announcement:

#DoctorWho fans. There will be an announcement at midnight. That’s all I’m saying…

- MSN UK Entertainment (@msnents) August 1, 2013

Don’t read too much into this, though-it’s believed that this message refers to the same announcement we’re talking about, and the official reveal of Twelve’s identity will be saved for Sunday.

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special. Never before has one program garnered so much suspicion, speculation, and rumor. At one point every former, living Doctor was returning, next every Doctor would be CGI’d, then it became simply no “Classic Doctors” will appear. This constant rumor mongering is fueled by fans’ desire to see their favorite Doctor in action again, but every once in a while a source pipes up with something that could actually come true.

That’s the way of it with this latest murmuring the Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, may have indeed filmed something for the 50th anniversary. Ever since the not-quite-good-enough-to-earn-a-season-order 1996 TV movie, McGann’s continued the adventures of the Eighth Doctor in Big Finish’s audio dramas. Above you can see his updated, less Edwardian, and decidedly more Nine-ish look, from his latest audio adventure, Dark Eyes.

Bleeding Cool is also reporting they received a tip a 50th anniversary, prequel mini-sode has been filmed. This little mini-sode would contain the regeneration from McGann to John Hurt’s Doctor. And remember how we all began suspecting Hurt was playing some kind of Doctor because his outfit looked like an amalgamation of Eight and Nine’s? Yeah… s’all coming together now.

The Eighth Doctor’s recent wardrobe change for the audio drama covers is making more sense. The Doctor ditches most of the Edwardian dress, but keeps the waistcoat, and adds the leather jacket. Then he regenerates and we’ve got John Hurt running around, doing something despicable during the Time War, and wearing the waist coat/leather jacket ensemble because IT’S WAR! You don’t have time to change outfits! During the Time War, Hurt regenerates into Nine, who keeps the leather jacket because it’s what’s best suited for his dark and moody soul. What do you think? Could I have nailed it?

Yes, it’s directionless speculation, but if it means a return for McGann as The Doctor, in a some visual capacity, I’m all for it. Speaking of the anniversary special, BBC announced the special will broadcast around the world simultaneously on November 23rd,

It’s always been our ambition to work with our broadcast partners so that international Doctor Who fans can enjoy the 50th Anniversary special at the same time as the UK. We’ll have more details soon about our very exciting global plans for November.

So, an 8pm screening in the U.K. means a 3pm show time in the U.S. for the east coast, and a 12pm showing for the west coast. Not so bad, but it’s worse for Australians who’d have a 6am show time to look forward to, eek! But for Whovians, any time is the right time for the 50th anniversary special.

Still months to go before November, but maybe we’ll see that prequel minisode beforehand? If it happened at all. Do you think it did?

For all of those who live in the UK or have plans to wander that way in November, the Doctor Who Official 50th Celebration Weekend will have Matt Smith in attendance. He’ll be hanging around, doing his thing at signing booths and panels. Which is funny, ’cause I kinda assumed he would’ve had to show up, seeing how he’s the current Doctor and all that. Where else would he be? He may even show up with a fez.

As we know, Smith’s run as the Eleventh Doctor will be coming to a close this Christmas. Other past Doctors that will be there include Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Tom Baker (Although he’s only doing a cameo appearance that weekend). Apparently, more big-name guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

Other things they’ve got planned for the weekend include learning how to walk like a monster with the official Who monster choreographer, Alisa Burke. Also, stunt school, quizzes, theater shows. And mostly just epic nerdery.

Tickets go on sale at 11am July 8th. Although it’s not clear which time zone that is (I suppose it doesn’t matter when you’re a Time Lord), we can safely assume it’s London time… whatever that time zone is called.

The first issue of Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time hit stands this week. With so many offerings in different media being presented to us for the 50th Anniversary, how does IDW’s stack up?

Warning, here be spoilers. And Katy Manning.

The first thing that struck me was the similarity between this and The Five Doctors. Don’t get me wrong, I love The Five Doctors, but we are definitely getting the same set up here. A mysterious hooded enemy is observing the Doctor through multiple incarnations, throwing old adversaries at him. In The Five Doctors, the Doctor gets scooped off and away. Here, it is only the companions. Where they are being sent, we don’t know. If it turns out to be the Death Zone, I shall kick someone.

The more I ruminate on it, the less it feels like a William Hartnell story. While the characterization of the regulars is nice, the story itself feels more and more out of place. It is perfectly in keeping with the era that the Doctor meets a historical figure. Indeed, one of the original goals for the series was to educate and expand on famous events and people. This became less of a priority after the Daleks made such a splash, but it was still part of the series until Patrick Troughton‘s first season. Yet Huxley would have been a controversial choice for the sixties, still being a divisive figure. He would have been in living memory for some people and the show shied away from such things until the 1980s.

Also, as the following annotations note, the Doctor getting to the precise time and place he intended was completely unheard of. Oft times, the TARDIS crew had no idea where they landed and would have to figure it out over the course of the first ten minutes of the first episode. This was part of fun of the show. You never had a clue where they would wind up next.

Simon Fraser‘s art is a mixed bag. In terms of storytelling, it is very well done. There are some great panels of the Doctor battling Zarbi that can’t be missed. But this is a comic that lives on likenesses. The Doctor himself is alright, but Ian and Barbara look nothing like William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, Vicki often looks far older than 16, and strangely Huxley is pretty good. Fraser has a knack for old men apparently.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I have always adored the Zarbi, so any excuse to see them again is very welcome. Quite where this is all going, I’ve no idea but we shall hopefully get some more clues next issue.

And now, a few things to notice about Issue #1.

Page 1, Panel 1 — While most images in this panel are too small to make out, of special notice is the upper right hand corner which features one of the infamous Katy Manning (who played companion Jo Grant) nude photos. Its inclusion here may be an indication that in the Who universe, Jo also took a nude photo with a Dalek. Jo met the Daleks in the episodes Day of the Daleks and Planet of the Daleks.

Page 2, Panel 2 — From top to bottom: The fourth Doctor and an unknown companion in Hollywood. Judging from the hairstyle, it’s probably Sarah. There is no recorded adventure with the fourth Doctor in Hollywood, but his first, second, fifth, sixth, eighth, tenth and eleventh incarnations have visited. This is the carving of the tenth Doctor and Donna as featured at the end of Fires of Pompeii. A photo of the TARDIS in Roald Dahl Plass taken during Boom Town. Roald Dahl Plass is also home to the Torchwood Hub.

Page 6, Panel 3 — The first Doctor was almost completely incapable of getting the TARDIS where he intended to go. The running arc of the first season was his trying to get Ian and Barbara back to the 20th century. Just how they are in 1868 on the right day is something of a mystery. Let alone writing Huxley a letter that would get to him in a timely manner…

Page 8, Panel 2 — The first Doctor usually carried a tiny pen torch, but this larger model is new. The same prop torch would later be used as the first version of the sonic screwdriver. The flashlight was invented in Britain in 1899.

Page 9, Panel 4– The Zarbi seen here are different than those seen in The Web Planet. In that story, they are large bipedal ants with six limbs. Here they scuttle around on the ground and seem to have either six or eight legs depending on what panel they’re in.

Page 11, Panel 3 — Here the Doctor calls Ian “Chatterton”. This is an example of what is referred to in fan circles as a “Billy Fluff”. During most of the 60s, Doctor Who was shot on video almost as live. Tape was very expensive and there was very little editing. They would pretty much only stop if something went very, very wrong. If a line was fluffed, it was often left in. Hartnell had a tendency to fluff his lines, sometimes quite noticeably. How much of this was intentional to show how the Doctor was a befuddled old scientist, no one will ever know. But this did often show itself when the Doctor was referring to Ian. Of course in this comic, Ian’s last name has not been mentioned yet, so if you didn’t already know who Ian was, you might be confused.

Page 15, Panel 3 — The Isop-tope Device was created by the other native race to Vortis, the Menoptera, a race of giant butterfly men. At the end of The Web Planet, it was Barbara that threw the Device at the Animus, seemingly killing it.

From page 1, panel 1

Page 19, Panel 2 –The Light at the End is also the title of Big Finish’s forthcoming 50th anniversary Doctor Who audio featuring the fourth through eighth Doctors.

Page 20, Panel 4 –The Doctor shall encounter the Zarbi again in Twilight of the Gods and Return to the Web Planet. A Zarbi also made a cameo appearance in The Mind of Evil as a manifestation of one of the Doctor’s greatest fears! A seed of the Animus returns in Twilight of the Gods, trying to take over Vortis once more.

Page 23 — As mentioned in John Ainsworth‘s essay, the 60’s Doctor Who comic strip was a sometimes bizarre sidestep from the show. For the sake of completeness, the Zarbi did appear in the comic and in the Doctor Who annuals released at the same time, but these are so confused in terms on continuity, these are usually ignored. For example, The Lost Ones features the Doctor traveling alone to Vortis before The Web Planet and includes a war between Atlanteans and the Menoptera.

Jewelry boxes usually have fairly plain designs, but this one is different – just look at it! It’s a TARDIS! Etsy seller Destry Robbins painted and aged a box that has plenty of drawers to stash jewelry and keepsakes in, and the drawers look just like the panes of the spaceship. She even lined the back and top with classy TARDIS damask fabric. Yeah, we all need one of these.